L-Arginine

What is it? Arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid. It’s an essential amino acid in infancy/early childhood, and under stress conditions where the body cannot manufacture cient l-arginine to meet increased demand. Beyond its role in protein synthesis, arginine is a precursor for a number of important metabolites, including creatine and nitric oxide. It is an im- portant intermediate in the urea cycle, and can stimulate the secretion of growth hormone.
What is it supposed to do?

The current interest in arginine and related compounds such as arginine-
alpha-ketoglutarate (AAKG) lies in its role in the production of nitric oxide.
NO is the new superstar molecule with researchers as it appears to play a
role directly or indirectly in almost every aspect of human physiology, such
as the immune system, nervous system, circulatory system, and many oth-
ers.

Arginine is a key component of the NO production pathway (arginine
serves as the substrates for the nitric oxide synthase enzyme, which pro-
duces citrulline and NO from arginine) which is essential for a cascade of
reactions involved in vasodilation and cardiovascular function.

Supplements containing arginine/AAKG are supposed to enhance the pro-
duction of NO, and increase the “pump” you get during a hard workout in
the gym.

What does the research say?

Recent data suggest arginine may have some legitimate uses regarding
health and well being. For example, the lining of artery walls called the
endothelium needs to dilate and contract e ectively.

NO is essential to this function and several studies have found arginine
supplements at 8 - 20 grams per day restored endothelial vasodilation in
the coronary arteries and may improves overall blood ow, which is impor-
tant for people su ering from ischemic issues.

Another study suggested that arginine supplementation greatly improved
penile function in men with penile dysfunction as NO is essential for blood
ow involved in getting an erection.

Arginine has shown a very good safety pro le to date and appears to have
virtually no toxic Effects . From an athletic/muscle building point of view,
things become much less clear. Early studies suggested arginine could in-
crease growth hormone levels, but in truth (a) these Effects were found us-
ing very high doses and were intravenous and (b) short lived spikes in GH
don’t appear to have any positive Effects on muscle mass or performance
in healthy athletes anyway.

NO is a messenger molecule related to virtually every pathway in the hu-
man body, one way or another. Therefore, simply raising NO will have both
positive and negative Effects , most of which are not known at this time.

Having chronically elevated levels of NO above normal may not be a good
idea. For example, though NO is associated with some potentially positive
Effects mentioned above, elevated NO levels are also associated with some
negative Effects . High levels of NO are associated with increased levels of
an extremely powerful pro-oxidant called peroxynitrate, which immune
cells use to kill pathogens. High levels of peroxynitrate may lead to greater
oxidative stress, immune disorders, and increased in ammation. For exam-
ple, high levels of NO and peroxynitrate are associated with bromyalgia,
chronic fatigue, and multiple chemical sensitivity. Therefore, it might not
be a wise idea to have chronically elevated levels, especially if you have any
of the aforementioned syndromes.

What does the real world have to say?

A decade ago, arginine had a brief day in the limelight with athletes as a
supplement that might stimulate growth hormone. However, its use as a
GH releaser never materialized into new muscles for users, so it quickly fell
out of favor.

Recently, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in arginine by
athletes and supplement companies. This is due to recent ndings show-
ing a long list of possible uses with arginine, ranging from possible protec
tion from heart disease, reducing cholesterol, to increasing blood ow.

This brings us to the new supplements known as “hemodilators” that claim
to give you a “perpetual pump” and other marketing buzz words based on
elevated NO. These new products are based on a form of arginine called Ar-
ginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate, which is simply arginine bound to alpha keto
glutarate (AKG), a supplement that had a short life some years ago. Some
of these new supplements claim some form of time delay or extended re-
lease to keep NO elevated.

There are many problems with the above, some of which I have mentioned
already. For one thing, there are no data to show such products keep NO
elevated all day, there may be medical and physiological reasons to avoid
constantly elevated levels of NO, and there are no studies at all showing
such products increase LBM. In fact, there’s even been one study that
demonstrates that NO supplements are worthless for increasing LBM. One
study, sponsored by an NO supplement manufacturer, concluded:

“AAKG supplementation appeared to be safe and well tolerated, and positively
in uenced 1RM bench press and Wingate peak power performance. AAKG did
not in uence body composition or aerobic capacity.”

To say that supplement manufacturers are overstating the muscle building
Effects of these new (and they are not really new, but are just being repack-
aged as new) products is being kind…

Interestingly, while some improvements in performance were seen in the
above study, these may well be due to the age of the subjects being tested
in both studies: 30 - 50 year old men. Middle-aged men are more likely to
have some markers of cardiovascular disease, such as elevated homocys-
teine and asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels. ADMA is a com-
petitive inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which is the enzyme re-
sponsible for NO production. So positive performance results in this group
may be due to a reduction in ADMA inhibition of NOS, rather than to the
increased availability of arginine for NO production. Under normal con-
ditions, arginine is not limiting for NO production, so increasing arginine
should not result in increased NO production.

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The Proper Nutrition and fat loss

Proper nutrition is important to ensure that your body stays healthy. Proper nutrition is a powerful good: people who are well nourished are more likely to be healthy, productive and able to do any thing.Proper nutrition is an essential part of a long, happy and healthy life.
Approaching the issue of nutrition and weight loss, we must emphasize the two basic questions that nutrition is a culture of good food to eat properly. Let's start with the first, a proper diet.

All cells and tissues in our body are formed by the food we eat. And food is the energy source for the functions of our body. Therefore, this may explain why the food is so important.

Food is one of our strongest motivations. And unfortunately, most of us regard to food as a source of pleasure only!

Our bodies are not fixed statues - are always in process, which we call metabolism.

Perception, memory and all the intricate complexities of bodily functions are possible because they have or produce enzymes, hormones and a thousand other marvels - which are produced in the body of what we eat.

As a source of energy our body uses carbohydrates (sweets), fat and protein. To be more specific, carbohydrates are the immediate source of energy, proteins are the building blocks of body, and fat are high energy storage. But these roles sometimes overlap.

And poor nutrition is the cause of the disease!

At the same time, with the right choices, we can prevent many food-related illnesses such as heart attack (!), Stroke, essential hypertension, and diabetes - even cancer!

Over a century ago, Ellen G. White, in "Tips on diet and food," shared his observation: "At lunchtime outside attention and cast anxious thought. Do not feel rushed, but slowly and eat with joy, with a heart full with gratitude to God for his blessings. " Is not that wonderful?

I just want to share with you part of our experience with nutrition and weight loss. If you have not had any prior experience of the following simple principles suggested to discuss ways to reduce the amount of daily food, you may find difficult to follow, but this is only in the face of it.

In reality it is much easier than it seems! And I promise, I will show your teacher. Because this question of how eating habits into practice is vitally important!

Eat the same food or process that can take the joy and fullness of life, or, on the other hand, if taken incorrectly, can cause considerable damage to their health and even shorten your life!

How to eat too much or bad food caused the damage? The answer is: any food that our body is not able to digest normally, it becomes toxic to us. Therefore, any poison will shorten our life!

This is the reason why we suggest that practice this to my clients before starting to eat, close your eyes gently for a moment, forget all your problems for a while and give you a smile! And then you can start eating.

Another recommendation is: to eat, try to keep the eyes gently closed (or just turn your eyes away from the food served), while slowly chewing a small piece of food in the mouth.

Believe me, this process will take much more flavor, and benefits at the same time. Because just doing this small thing to reduce the portion of the food consumed by three to five times! (As I already mentioned)

I would emphasize the importance of having time to eat. When eating, if possible, make it a social occasion to communicate with your family or your friends. But! (There is always some "buts"). If you decide to improve your eating habits, whether the company would be appropriate at this time, especially at first. For this reason, it is best at first to all the changes have stabilized, so that it can resist any temptation ...

But even in difficult situations, which should never compromise the basic principles of good nutrition. Always watch what you eat or drink! A well educated person knows how to do it without endangering the friendly relations.

As we do, we will have the added advantage of alertness, clear thinking, and a perception that it is fully aware of the joyful events of life. But the real joy comes from facing reality and dealing with any patient life has to offer. If we take time to learn what is good for us and make a serious effort to implement, we expect to be rewarded with extra energy and a long and happy life!

Let's look at sweets. What are the clusters of simple sugars, most important of which is glucose. This simple sugar is the provider of most of the energy body. Penetrate into the blood stream that meets the need of all cells. Due to insulin, glucose is able to cross the cell membrane and becomes available for use.

At the same time, our bodies can adequately handle only a limited number of simple sugars in a given period of time. When exceeded (if you eat too many sweets), the pancreas is forced to work overtime to produce insulin to convert the excess sugar into fat.

Small amounts of sugar does not do it, but we must remember that there are hidden in most processed foods and sugar drinks. And this is the problem - which usually eat much candy that our pancreas can cope with!

Let's see how we can avoid this problem. When we plan our diet should give preference to the natural source of sweet, like fruit, then wheat, rice, potatoes, beans and other foods that contain starch. Because these plant foods require a long period of time to be digested, and simple sugar is released gradually. This allows our body energy to this process in an orderly manner.

Recent scientific research has shown that excessive consumption of sugar (too sweet) can lead to problems such as:

* Constipation.
* They cause tooth decay to provide an ideal culture medium in the mouth, and stop the flow of fluid inside the tooth.
* The depression of the immune system by interfering with the ability of white blood cells kill germs.
* Promotion of adult diabetes.

Now we come to the practical application of the above for weight loss. With the exception of some fruits of the ideal diet includes only a minimal amount of sugar, and provide an abundance of complex carbohydrates such as those found in vegetables and whole grain pasta.
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